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Web records delayed as residents worry
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff Writer INVERNESS -- Residents lined up as soon as the courthouse opened Friday morning, anxiously buzzing about Social Security numbers and identity theft. They had read a Citrus Times article Thursday about official Citrus County records that would be posted Monday on the Internet, records including court judgments and deeds that sometimes include people's Social Security numbers. They came out in droves to request their Social Security numbers be removed from the online versions of those documents, as state law allows. Eager to put the long line of nervous residents at ease, the Citrus County Clerk's Office announced around noon that there had been a change in plans: The launch of the online records system, which had been slated for Monday, would be delayed until further notice. The delay gives residents more time to see if their Social Security numbers appear on any of the official records under their name. If it does, they can fill out a form asking the clerk to remove it from the document image that will be posted on the Internet. "Your concerns are very well noted," said Nancy Cologna, the records department manager for the clerk's office, to a line of about 20 people Friday. "We're going to work with you, and we want to give you plenty of time to look at the records." For the record, it was the state Legislature, not Clerk of Courts Betty Strifler, who decided to post the public records online. Lawmakers passed a bill a couple of years ago requiring the clerks of court statewide to digitize their documents and place them on their Web sites by Jan. 1, 2006. The records have always been available for the public to view on microfilm rolls at the courthouse, but the new measure will make the records more accessible. Title companies could research deeds from their office computers, and homeowners could look into a lien or judgment without going to the courthouse. But there is a rub: Judgments, deeds and other public records sometimes contain Social Security numbers, key pieces of people's identities. So the Legislature created a way for people to have their Social Security number removed from the documents that will be shown on the Internet. Residents must come to the courthouse, look at the records under their name, and fill out a form with the book and page number of any document with a Social Security number that should be removed. "A lot of people are not finding their Social Security numbers on the documents," said Sarah Koser, the clerk's finance director, who helped residents sift through the documents Friday. "I don't know if it depends on who prepares the document or what." Residents who gathered at the courthouse Friday wondered why the clerk could not simply remove all of the Social Security numbers herself. But state law does not allow the clerks to remove such information unless someone specifically requests it. "The bureaucracy says it's up to you to do it," sighed Howard Lauben, an Inverness retiree who waited in line Friday. "I feel sorry for the uneducated person who can't keep up with this stuff. This is an era where you have to stay on top of these things, because if you don't, you lose your money." Lauben's wife, Alma, clutched a list of 17 deeds and other documents in her family's name. She would have to look at every document to make sure her Social Security number wouldn't find its way into cyberspace. She said that once someone learns your Social Security number, "They can get into your savings account. They can get into your 401(k). They can overtake your identity." -- Bridget Hall Grumet can be reached at 860-7303 or bhall@sptimes.com.
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